Conveyer.



PATBNTED OCT. 16, 1906.

J. H. MILES.

GONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24,1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. JOHN H. MILES, OF HAMMOND, CALIFORNIA. CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. MILES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Yuba' and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a conveying apparatus which is especially designed to be used upon gold-dredging apparatus in which the waste material is continually carried away and deposited at the rear of the apparatus.

It consists in the combination of mechanism and indetails of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which' Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device. Fig. 2 is a plan of the lower end. Fig. 3 is a plan of the upper end. Fig. 4 is a section of a bucket and connections transverse to the cable. Fig. 5 is a view of the same parallel with the cable. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bucket. Figs. 7 and 8 are details of the wheel and cable connections. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a connecting-plate 10. Fig. 10 shows the inlet connections to the tubular frame.

In dredging for gold in gold-bearing land a dredge-boat is floated in a sufficient quantity of water. Suitable excavators at one end continually dig up the material, which is passed through the usual separating and amalgamating apparatus, and the raised earth, sand, gravel, &c., are conveyed away at the opposite end of the dredge, so that the forward progress of the dredger will not be impeded. For this purpose it is customary to employ heavy rubber and canvas belts, which are exceedingly expensive and have a comparatively short life.

It is the ob 'ect of my invention to provide a cheaper and more durable conveyer which is especially adapted to this class of work.

My conveyer is constructed with parallel pipes A, which may be six or eight inches in diameter and of such length as may be necessary to carry the conveying apparatus as'far to the rear of the dredge-boat or other point of work as may be desired. These pipes A are substantially parallel at a suitable distance apart and are strengthened by crossbracing of any description, as indicated at 2. The lower ends of this pipe-frame are hinged to the base upon which they rest, as shown at 4. Upon each end of the frame thus constructed are fixed journal-boxes 5 5 and one or both of them may have any suitable means for adjusting them to take up any slack caused by the stretching of the carrierropes. Such a device is indicated at 5 Upon the shafts, as 6, at the ends of the framework are fixed grooved wheels or pulleys 7 at such a distance apart as may be necessary to provide for the desired width of the carrier. These wheels, which for the present purpose may be as much as six feet in diameter, are grooved around the periphery to receive the endless ropes or cables 8, which travel around the wheels and which carry the buckets of the conveyer. These cables may be connected or spliced in any suitable manner and are capable of being adjusted by take-up mechanism, as previously described.

Buckets 9 are suitably formed and attached to the cables, and the apparatus may be set at any desired inclination up to fortyfive degrees, if required, so that all material delivered into the buckets will be carried up the incline, and in this particular my appa ratus has considerable advantage over the ordinary conveying-belts, which cannot be operated at a steep angle, because the material and rocks will slide or roll backward if the belts are inclined to too great a degree.

My buckets are made alternately low and high, and the inequalities of the surface thus produced provide for a secure holding of such rock and large material as will be liable to be carried by the apparatus, while the buckets themselves arasufficient to convey all gravel and smaller material.

I have here shown the buckets made of angle-iron, having flanges of suitable width for the purpose. The stripsof angle-iron are split a short distance along the angles, and one flange is bent inwardly at each' end, as shown at 9*, leaving the ends-of the other flange projecting beyond the inturned ends. The flange thus bent forms three sides of the bucket, the other flange forms the bottom, and the extensions beyond the ends 9 serve for attaching the bucket to the base or carrier by which it is connected with the cable, so as to be driven thereby.

The base is here shown in each case as consisting of a flat plate 10, having lugs 11 upon its edges and a sufficient distance apart so that the lugs will extend down upon each side of the rims of the wheels 7.

Through the rims of the wheels are passed pins 12 at such intervals apart that they will engage the lugs 11 of each succeeding plate or carrier 10, and thus propel the cable around the wheels.

The pins are preferably split in halves, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the fiat meeting surfaces being in planes diagonal from one end to the other, so that one-half the pin being driven in from each side will bind and make a tight fit in its hole. There being two pulleys and the plates 10 being set opposite to each other the buckets previously described will extend between the plates of the two cables, and the projecting ends of the flanges 9 are provided with holes and are secured to plates 10 by suitable clip-bolts. (Shown at 13 in Figs. 4 and 5.) The buckets are thus secured to the cables in succession, as plainly shown in Fig. 5, and operate as previously described, and they may be adjusted by means of the clips.

In order to strengthen the apparatus and to properly support a considerable length of the pipe-frame, I employ trusses, of which 14 is a type.

Power to drive the cables may be derived from any suitable or convenient motor applied to a shaft 15, and through a suitable train -,of gearing, as at 16, motion is communicated to eitherof the wheel-shafts 6, according to convenience.

It may sometimes be found desirable .to apply the power to the upper cablewheels, so that a direct pull is exercised upon the carry'ing portion of the cables. Where it is desired to save weight, or for other reasons, the power may be 'in like manner applied to the lower Wheels.

The plates 10, which carry the buckets, are so constructed that they may be reversed, if wear makes it desirable, and the split pins 12 may in like manner be turned in their sockets to relieve the wear.

Fig. 9 shows a groove or cnannel 17 made in the inner surface of the plate 10, this groove corresponding with the curvature of the cable and allowing the plates to lie upon the wheel-rim rather'than upon the cable.

The pipes A are opened at the upper ends and near the lower ends have connected with them pipes 18, through which slimes and other waste matter may be delivered into the pipes A from the separating apparatus and forced up through the pipes A and discharged upon the dump at the outer end in conjunction with the material carried by the buckets.

I am thus enabled to dispose not only of the coarser waste, but the finer sands and slimes accumulated in the process of separating the gold therefrom, and as in many cases these dredges are floated in a comparatively small body of water it is desirable to preserve the depth of this body of water and not allow it to become clogged by a continual discharge of waste matter. Therefore all material being delivered only to the rear of the dredge will constantly fill the channel behind while it is being continually excavated at the front.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A conveyer consisting of a tubular conveyer-frame, wheels mounted in pairs at each end of the frame, endless cables passing around the wheels, buckets carried by the cables, and acting to convey coarse material, and connections with the tubular frame through which fine material may be ejected.

2. The combination in a conveyer, of a series of endless traveling buckets, and a tubular framework having supply and discharge openings near its opposite ends.

3. In a conveyer for dredges, a tubular frame hinged at the lower end and adapted to stand at an angle therefrom, shafts j ournaled at opposite ends of the frame, grooved wheels fixed upon the shafts, endless cables passing around the wheels, plates fixed to the cables having lugs, pins upon the wheels with which the lugs engage, and buckets secured to the plates.

4. In a conveyer, a frame with wheels journaled at opposite ends, endless travelingcables passing around the wheels, plates adjustably clipped to the cables having lugs projecting at each side of the wheel-rims, projections on the wheel-rims with which said lugs engage and buckets extending between the cables having their ends fixed to the plates of each cable. 5. In a conveyer, a frame, pulleys journaled in pairs at the ends of the frame, endless cables passing around the pulleys, bucket-carrying plates adjustably secured to the cables having lugs projecting upon each side of the wheel-rims, pins adapted to engage the lugs and propel the cable, said pins being split diagonally from end to end, and adjustably locked in the wheel-rims.

6. Endless-cable-carrying wheels having holes made transversely through the rims, pins to fit the holes, said pins formed in two parts with a diagonal plane of contact from end to end wherebythe pins may beadjusted and locked within the holes.

7. A conveyer consisting of endless bucket- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set carrying cables, wheels around which the camy hand in presence of two subscribing wit- 1o bles pass; a tliflllai fiiarne at the erlldds of nesses.

which t e ca e-w ee s are journa e a T 5 means for supplying material at the receiv- .JOHB MILES ing ends of the tubes and openings at the Witnesses: outer ends discharging in unison with the J. A. MALLOOH, buckets of the conveyer. JOSEPH DURFEE. 

